SO why has comedy central only just now brought the series back? did the UK hate stewarts version?

It was an odd decision. Relegated to Comedy Central Extra and NOW TV catch-up, then off all together with only VPN access to the final episodes of Jon Stewart's era, then suddenly it's back on the main channel.

US chat shows are always going to have a niche audience, yet they should have kept it on Extra at least.

As for Trevor, he'll take some getting used to, but emulating Jon Stewart isn't doing him any favours. He needs to find his own persona for the format.

Indeed. More4 had The Daily Show on for a few years, but dropped it after the audience proved too small. The Colbert Report was also on FX Channel (now FOX) for a couple of years too. However, lack of audience and cost were cited as reasons for dropping it.

The same thing happened on Comedy Central Extra, who had The Daily Show on at 11pm for a couple of years until early this year, but then started messing with it, pushing it back, missing some episodes and then putting them out at 1am or 1.30am before dumping it.

In addition to the niche audience, they also have the issue of finding something to put on on a Monday night (the show airs Mon-Thurs in the US, replayed Tues-Fri in the UK), and also filling the gaps when the show takes a break. Not big issues, but if the audience is small, you can see why the channels just decide not to bother with the hassle at all.

I hope it stays on Comedy Central for a while, especially given the Presidential election next year.